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THE PRINCE 
AND THE DRAGONS 
































































1 


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ALTEMUS’ MAGIC WAND SERIES 

THE PRINCE 
AND THE DRAGONS 

BY 

TUDOR JENKS 


With Illustrations by JOHN R. NEILL 



PHILADELPHIA 
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 



OCT 9 1906 


o»_A«s CL *xe, Ha 

/3n +3 

OOP* B 



Altemus’ Illustrated 
MAGIC WAND SERIES 

By TUDOR JENKS 


The Magic Wand 
Romero and Julietta 
A Magician for One Day 
The Prince and the Dragons 
Timothy’s Magical Afternoon 
The Rescue Syndicate 


Copyright , /P05, by Henry Altemus 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I 

Page 

What the Prince Caught 15 

CHAPTER II 

Trouble in Dragon Land 29 

CHAPTER III 

The Dragon’s Revenge 53 

CHAPTER IV 


A New Plot 69 

CHAPTER V 

The Happy Ending 87 





♦ 






The Prince and the Dragons 


9 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Frontispiece 

“ He would bury his nose between 

the pages” 19 

“ Put him into his Noah’s-Ark” 25 
“ The Prince removed the book ” 31 

“ The guards came running in ” 35 

“ He was led to the window”. - 37 

“A great yellow dragon in spec- 
tacles” 43 

“Went right to the door of the 

closet” 47 

“ The whole flock of dragons rose 

into the air” 48 

“ She became hopping mad ” . . 55 

“ She went to the head dragon of 
them all” 57 


Illus- 

trations 


IO 


The Prince and the Dragons 


“ He felt himself lifted into the 

air” 59 

“ Shook her till her teeth rattled” 63 
“The little fellow climbed upon 

his back ” 71 

“ ‘ Very nearly correct,’ said the 

tutor” 73 

“ ‘ Stand back! ’ she cried. ‘ Don’t 

touch them’” 79 

“When the box was opened the 
dragons began to sing ” . . 89 

“ The Duchess and the old witch 

driving a donkey-cart” . . . 91 

“The large reward was paid to 

them” 95 

“ ‘ If you don’t get away from 
here you’ll be sorry ’” . . . 97 

“ A large golden vase full of most 
delicious doughnuts ” ... 99 

* 


Illus- 

trations 


The Prince and the Dragons 


1 1 





WHAT THE PRINCE CAUGHT 



The Prince and the Dragons 


15 


Tired 
of Toys 


CHAPTER I 

WHAT THE PRINCE CAUGHT 


AM tired of 
all my toys,” 
said the little 
Prince; “and, 
besides, I have 
broken the 
trunk of my 
biggest wooden elephant.” 

“ Has your royal highness 
thought of—” 

“Yes, I have,” said the 
Prince crossly, without wait- 
ing for the sentence to be fin- 
ished. 

“But you didn’t know what 
I was going to say,” objected 
the Prince’s tutor. 

“Oh, yes, I did,” said the 



Tutor 

Objects 


i6 


The Prince 


He is Prince, who was looking out of 
Right the Palace windows. 

“Well, what was it?” asked 
the tutor. 

“You were going to say, 
‘ Have you thought of studying 
your lessons for to-morrow?’ 
That’s your idea of cheerful 
amusement; but it isn’t mine.” 

The Prince’s tutor was silent. 
What could he say ? The 
Prince had guessed exactly 
what the tutor would have 
asked, except for the interrup- 
tion. So the tutor said no more, 
but began to whistle a tune. 

“ I wish you wouldn’t do 
that,” said the Prince. “It 
makes me nervous. I hate that 
tune, and I hate whistling.” 

“But you whistle some- 
times,” said the tutor. 


Fussing 


and the Dragons 


1 7 


“Not when I’m nervous,” 
was the Prince’s reply. “ But 
what shall I do to amuse my- 
self?” 

“Take a book,” was the 
tutor’s suggestion. 

“What book?” 

“Oh, I don’t know, — any 
good book.” 

“But I’m tired of all the 
books I’ve read, and I don’t 
want to begin a new one. Be- 
sides, I don’t feel like reading. 
I’m too nervous.” 

“ Nervous ! ” exclaimed the 
tutor,— “ the idea of a little boy’s 
being nervous. You ought not 
to have any nerves. Somebody 
has been talking nonsense to 
you.” 

“ That’s so,” said the Prince. 

“Well, who is it?” asked the 
tutor. 


Take a 
Book 


4— B. 


Who is It? 


18 


The Prince 


Very 

Cross 


Tutor's 

Refuge 


“ It’s you,” was the Prince’s 
reply. In short, the little fellow 
was decidedly out of humor, 
and felt like quarreling with the 
tutor simply because he was the 
nearest person. If it had been 
the king, he would have been 
snappish to the king; if it had 
been the queen, he would have 
whined at her; but as it was 
the tutor— a pale and thin young 
man with a high forehead, light 
straw-colored eyebrows, and 
spectacles — why, the Prince 
was doing his best to make him 
angry. The tutor was used to 
this, and he did not let the 
Prince bother him. When the 
Prince became too bad-tem- 
pered, the tutor would go to 
one of the bookcases and take 
down a big fat volume entitled 


and the Dragons 


19 


“The History of Transcauca- 
sian Enterprises under the Aus- 
pices of the Committee on 
Extra-territorial Immigration.” 



Then he would bury his nose 
so deeply in between the pages 
that he couldn’t hear a word 
the Prince was saying. It was 


A Good 
Title 


Deaf 



20 


The Prince 


To the a great rest for the Prince’s 

World tutor’s mind. 

This is what he did now and 
was lost to the world. 

“ Count Bricabrac !” said the 
Prince, for that was his tutor’s 
name. 

“ Hum-um,” was the only 
reply, so the Prince had to 
leave Count Bricabrac to his 
interesting book. 

But the Prince was bound to 
find some amusement. He 
began to look around his play- 
room, at the various things hung 
on the walls. Suddenly his eye 
brightened as he saw his favor- 
ite fishing-pole hung upon two 
golden hooks. He went across 
the room, pushed a rosewood 
table against the wall, and 
climbed up on it, scratching 


A- Fishing 


and the Dragons 




quite a number of marks on the Bait 
polished top. Wanted 

He took down the pole, and 
then looked around for some- 
thing with which to bait the 
hook. He saw the broken ele- 
phant lying near his Noah’s- 
Ark, for though this happened 
a long time ago, it was not be- 
fore the Flood, and the Prince 
had a Noah’s-Ark just like other 
little boys. 

He was going to fish in the 
moat that surrounded the Pal- 
ace walls, and he decided to 
use the wooden elephant for 
bait. It was some trouble to get 
the little elephant on the hook, 
but at length he succeeded in 
putting the hook through one 
of the ears, which were made 
of felt ; and then, going to the 


An Ele- 
phant 


22 


The Prince 


Waiting window, he flung out the end 
of the line, and unreeled it until 
it reached the surface of the 
water far below. 

There it bobbed up and down 
in the sunshine, while the 
Prince waited for a bite. He 
did not have long to wait. Sud- 
denly there was a commotion 
in the water, something came 
rushing up from the depths 
and swallowed the wooden ele- 
phant. 

At once the line began to 
run out from the reel, and the 
Prince, capering about, shout- 
ed : “I’ve caught a fish! IVe 
caught a fish— and he pulls like 
a big one ! ” 

But Count Bricabrac paid 
no attention. He was so deeply 
interested in his book. Then 


A Bite 


and the Dragons 


23 


the Prince began to haul in the 
line. The fish — or whatever 
was at the end of the line — 
pulled very hard, but the Prince 
was a strong youngster, and 
gradually drew in his catch. 
When it came to the top of the 
water, he suddenly saw that he 
had caught a young dragon. 
And a lively young creature it 
was, bright green, with a scarlet 
mouth, purple ears, and a love- 
ly tail, all the colors of the rain- 
bow. It was the first dragon 
the Prince had ever seen, but 
he knew what it was because 
he had seen pictures of dragons 
in his favorite book of Fairy 
Tales. 

You might think that he would 
have cried out, but he was afraid 
that Count Bricabrac would not 


Haul- 
ing in 


A Dragon 


24 


The Prince 


It Yowled l et him keep the little dragon, so 
he said nothing, but hauled it 
in as quick as he could. When 
the dragon felt itself coming out 
of the water, and then being 
dragged up the wall of the 
Palace, it began to yowl. 

Count Bricabrac heard the 
noise, and for a minute looked 
up from his reading. 

“ Come, come ! ” he exclaim- 
ed, “ you mustn’t cry like that! 
A big boy like you ! ” 

But the dragon didn’t stop 
his noise. He was sorry that 
he had not left the wooden ele- 
phant alone, and made up his 
mind then and there never to 
touch elephant’s meat again. 
But this good resolution came 
too late. For the Prince hauled 
the little captive in through the 


Too Late ! 


and the Dragons 


25 


window, threw him flapping on 
the floor, and then, dropping 
the pole, picked up the dragon, 



put him into his Noah’s-Ark, 
shut down the lid, and fastened 
it with the hook. 


Landed 


And Boxed 
















TROUBLE IN DRAGON LAND 





The Prince and the Dragons 


29 


Still 

Howling 


CHAPTER II 

TROUBLE IN DRAGON LAND 

F course the 
dragon kept 
up his howl- 
ing all the 
time, and 
even Count 
Bricabrac 

noticed it. 

“What is all this noise?” he 
asked, frowning severely. “This 
whining must be stopped ! ” 
The Prince was afraid his 
tutor would find out about the 
dragon, and so he at once seated 
himself at his piano, and began 
to practice his scales as loud 
and as fast as he could. This 
had two good effects. It drown- 
ed the noise of the dragon’s 



Practising 

Scales 


30 


The Prince 


Tutor wails, and it drove the tutor out 
Leaves of the room without his being 
able to take offence, for of 
course he could not object to 
the Prince’s practising without 
getting into trouble with the 
Countess Metronomski, who 
taught him music. 

So Count Bricabrac fled, 
slamming the door after him, 
and the Prince was left alone 
with his dragon. After a few 
minutes the Prince shut the 
piano and opened the Noah’s- 
Ark. At once the dragon 
crawled out, and began to jump 
about the floor. The little 
dragon was about as big as a 
half-grown puppy, and seemed 
more frightened than fierce. 
Soon the Prince noticed that 
the hook was sticking in the 

Dragon 

Freed 


and the Dragons 


31 


dragon’s lower jaw, and, catch- 
ing the scared creature, re- 
moved it. 


Then the dragon quieted 



down, and soon allowed the 
Prince to pat its head, and 
showed its pleasure by purring 
like a big cat, while its fiery 
little eyes glowed softly. 


Unhooked 


A Little 
Pet 


32 


The Prince 


Sleepy 


After the hook was out the 
dragon seemed very quiet, and 
before long began to blink its 
little eyes as if drowsy. This 
suited the Prince exactly, for it 
was nearly supper-time, and he 
was hungry. So he made up a 
cosy little nest for the dragon 
in the darkest corner of his 
playroom closet, using for the 
bedding several velvet doublets 
and cloaks— of whichthe Prince 
owned more than any sensible 
youngster could wear. 

The dragon coiled itself up 
like a cruller, and was soon fast 
asleep and snoring as comfort- 
ably as if it were at home. 
Whereupon the Prince went to 
supper as quietly as if he caught 
dragons every day in the week, 
and really there would be no 


Supper- 

time 


and the Dragons 


33 


story to tell if the little dragon 
had happened to be an orphan. 

But it had a strong, fierce 
mother, a lively and inquisitive 
father, several well-grown 
brothers and sisters, to say 
nothing of other relatives, from 
cousins to grand-uncles; and 
they were all looking for the 
pretty little thing. The dragon 
had gone out for a quiet after- 
noon’s soaring, when it had 
been chased by an eagle, had 
lost its way, and, after flying till 
it was tired, had dropped into 
the moat of the Palace. 

How the big dragons discov- 
ered where the little dragon was 
is not quite certain ; possibly 
they were told by a bothering 
old busybody of a bat that was 
blundering about just as the 


4 — C. 


Not an 
Orphan 


Busybody 

Bat 


34 


The Prince 


A Gre,at 
Row 


Repent- 

ance 


Prince had hauled in the line. 
Certainly they found it out, for 
the Prince’s supper was not 
quite over when there came the 
sound of a great commotion 
outside of the Palace— flapping 
and clapping of wings, scrap- 
ing of claws, bellowing, yowl- 
ing, howling, as if a thousand 
gentle nurses were washing a 
thousand cross boys all at once. 
The confusion was terrible. 

The guards who had been 
stationed on the towers and 
walls came running in to say 
that it was “ raining dragons,” 
and every dragon was breath- 
ing out fire and lashing his tail. 
All the doors and windows were 
closed, and all the people in the 
Palace wished they had always 
been good. 


and the Dragons 


35 


The King, who had been 
busy playing checkers with the 
Queen, did not for some time 
get a clear idea of what was 



going on. He was rather deaf, 
and at first thought the people 
were talking about “ waggons,” 
and gave orders to put them 


Alarm 


Waggons 


36 


The Prince 


Flagons into the stable ; then he thought 
it was “ flagons,” and said, 
“ Oh — then put them into the 
cellar ! ” This was while they 
were all talking at once. But 
when it was a little quieter, and 
the Queen said distinctly, “ Not 
waggons or flagons , dear— but 
dragons / They say it is rain- 
ing dragons /” he pretty nearly 
understood, for he asked, fierce- 
ly, “ Who says we are reigning 
dragons ? ” 

When the trouble was ex- 
plained to him, and he was led 
to the window to see the great 
winged creatures dashing 
around and around, he said, 
“ Dear me ! How interesting ! 
Let me see — is there anybody 
in the Palace who can talk 
dragon-talk?” 


Interesting 


and the Dragons 


37 


Then all the courtiers and 
pages scampered upstairs and 
downstairs repeating the King’s 
question. When at last they 



had come to the room where 
the Prince and his tutor were 
at supper, Count Bricabrac 
said modestly that there was in 


Who 
Can ? 


Modest 

Tutor 


38 


The Prince 


A Helpful the royal library a book about 
Book dragons, and that in the end 

there was a list of dragon-words 
with a translation. He believed 
that by using this to aid him he 
could speak a little dragon-talk, 
and — what did the King want? 

Thereupon the pages grabbed 
him, and ran him through the 
halls, up the stairs, bang into 
the presence of the King. 

“ Count Bricabrac thinks he 
may make out the dragon-talk, 
yourMajesty!” they all bawled. 
Queerly enough the deaf King 
understood. 

“ Is this true ? ” he asked. 

“Yes, sire,” answered the 
tutor, making a low bow. “ By 
the aid of a small book that is in 
the royal library.” 

“Well, just step to the door, 


Interpreter 


and the Dragons 


39 


and see what is the meaning of 
this visit,” said the King, order- 
ing a page to fetch the book at 
once. 

“If you don’t mind, your 
Majesty, may I speak to them 
through the window ? ” shouted 
Count Bricabrac in the King’s 
ear. 

“ Certainly, certainly,” the 
King agreed. “ Only find out 
what they want, and if possible, 
let them have it. We can’t have 
the air full of dragons all the 
time. It doesn’t seem healthy, 
or quite safe. They might — ” 

At this moment there came a 
bang on the window-shutter, 
and then a scraping. Count 
Bricabrac sprang to the shutter 
and threw it open, while every 
one else in the room sidled away 


Window 

Safer 


Brave 

Bricabrac 


40 


The Prince 


Dragon 

Talk 


toward the opposite wall. As 
soon as the shutter was open a 
dragon’s head and long neck 
was thrust into the room. 

Count Bricabrac thereupon 
turned over the pages of the 
handbook and soon began to 
address the dragon : 

“ Ax -f 2a*x + 3abx — myb?” was 
his first remark. 

“ Qmx — a 2 x + d (a — x) — xy 2 b,” 
said the dragon, smiling. 

It is useless to put down more 
of the conversation. The bright 
reader will already have seen 
that dragon-talk is only a kind 
of algebra, and who wants more 
algebra that comes naturally? 
The Count had to make his 
sentences up very slowly and it 
took a long time to find out the 
dragon’s replies. But they un- 


Slow Work 


and the Dragons 


41 


derstood each other in a way, 
and before very long Count 
Bricabrac was able to report to 
the King the gist of the conver- 
sation. 

“The dragon tells me,” said 
the Count, “ that they have 
good reason to think that some 
one has captured a baby dragon 
and has shut it up somewhere 
about the Palace.” 

“ Nonsense ! ” exclaimed the 
King. “It is impossible!” 
which shows that even kings 
are now and then mistaken. 

At this moment the Prince, 
having finished his supper, en- 
tered the room. He looked 
rather uneasy, for he had 
guessed what was the trouble, 
and had not made up his mind 
what to do. So he remained 


The 

Message 


The Prince 
Comes 


4 2 The Prince and the Dragons 


No Mis- 
take 


silent, waiting to see what 
would happen. 

“I fear,” said Count Brica- 
brac, “that there is no mistake. 
They have very keen scent, and 
they tell me that if you will ad- 
mit a single dragon to the castle 
it will be easy to find the miss- 
ing youngster.” 

“ What do you advise ? ” the 
King remarked, after a pause. 

“ I think, your serene High- 
ness, that there can be no ob- 
jection to admitting a single 
dragon, if it will promise not to 
breathe fire on the furniture or 
scratch up the polished floors.” 

“ But won’t the dragon eat 
ns?” exclaimed old Duchess 
Darningneedle. 

“No danger,” said Count 
Bricabrac, without reflection, 


Scared 

Duchess 








The Prince and the Dragons 45 


“ dragons only care for young 
and tender maidens.” 

Now wasn’t that a foolish 
speech? Of course it made 
the Duchess furious , and while 
she had never been fond of him, 
she disliked Count Bricabrac 
more than ever afterward ; and 
that brought him trouble. 

So it was decided to let one 
dragon enter the castle and 
make a careful search for the 
missing member of their family. 
The front gate was cautiously 
opened, and a great yellow 
dragon in spectacles — maybe 
you didn’t know they wore 
spectacles, but this one did ; he 
had stolen them from an opti- 
cian’s shop — was allowed to 
crawl in. He was the Father- 
dragon, and at once began snif- 


How 

Thought- 

less 


Father 

Dragon 


4 6 


The Prince 


On the fing about to catch the scent, 
Trail and soon caught it, for he imme- 

diately began to climb the wind- 
ing stair that led to the Prince’s 
playroom. 

The whole court followed, 
but were exceedingly careful 
to keep clear of the monster’s 
tail, the end of which was very 
sharp and went whisking about 
like a broken trolley-wire. 
Straight to the Prince’s play- 
room went the big dragon, and 
when he reached the room, he 
went right to the door of the 
closet. Then the door was 
opened by Count Bricabrac, 
and in a moment more the 
baby-dragon was clasped in his 
father’s arms ! It was a touch- 
ing scene, and many of the 
court were moved to tears. 


A Touching 
Scene 


and the Dragons 


47 


Soon afterward the Father- 
dragon departed with his re- 
covered darling, and when he 
reappeared at the Palace gate, 



the dragons burst into a storm 
of cheering that sounded like 
the steam-whistles that blow on 
the night before New Year’s 


They 

Depart 


The 

Cheering 


48 


The Prince 


Away Day. Then, like a swarm of 
They Go great birds, the whole flock of 
dragons rose into the air until 
they looked no bigger than 


crows, and away they flew 
over hill, dale, valley, and plain 
till they were once more amid 
their mountainous peaks and 



Homeward 



and the Dragons 


49 


crags. Then settling into a nice 
flat rocky place before a big 
cavern where they lived, they ' 
all sang their national song, 
which runs thus : 

“ Dry Desert , ’t is of you, 

Region where plants are few 
Of you we howl ! 

Come, all ye crawly things, 

Proud of sharp claws and stings, 
Wave all your flapping wings, 

Let Dragons yowl ! ” 

This, and other verses, they 
sang with great enthusiasm, and 
then dispersed about their reg- 
ular nightly wrongdoing. 


National 

Song 


4— D. 


To Work 












THE DRAGON’S REVENGE 






The Prince and the Dragons 


53 


A Quiet 
Time 


CHAPTER III 

THE DRAGON’S REVENGE 

EANWHILE 
nothing par- 
ticular was 
done at the 
Palace, for 
the simple 
reason that it 
was bedtime, and every one 
was so tired with the excite- 
ment about the dragons that 
all were very glad to get into 
their nice white nightgowns 
and cuddle down until the 
morning. That is — all but 
one. There was one who did 
not sleep. The Duchess Darn- 
ingneedle was very angry at 
what Count Bricabrac had said 



One 

Wakeful 


54 


The Prince 


Hopping 

Mad 


about her being in no danger 
because she was “ not young 
and tender.” She didn’t like 
Count Bricabrac any way, as 
has been said, because he had 
succeeded her as the Prince’s 
teacher and had not liked the 
way she had taught the Prince 
his fractions. Altogether, as 
she thought it over she became 
hopping mad, so mad she could 
not sleep. 

At length she took a quill-pen 
and she wrote a little letter to 
an old witch of her acquaint- 
ance who lived in a cave not far 
from the Palace grounds. In 
this note she told a horrid story. 
She said that it was Bricabrac 
who had stolen the young dra- 
gon, and she told the witch to 
let the dragons know all about 


A Whop ■ 
per 


and the Dragons 


55 


it. Of course, the witch did 
not know the note was not true, 
so, being able to speak the dra- 
gon language a little, she went 



to the head dragon of them all — 
the father of the little dragon— 
and told him that Count Brica- 
brac was the one that had cap- 


The 

Witch 


Repeats it 


56 

The Prince 

Bricabrac , 
Beware ! 

tured the little one, and that he 
ought to be punished for it. 

The old dragon thought this 
reasonable, and, without telling 
any of the others what he 
meant to do, he quietly flew 
over to the Palace, and hiding 
himself in the top of one of the 
tallest trees, awaited his chance 
to carry off the Prince’s tutor. 
He had not long to wait, for it 
was Bricabrac’s custom to walk 
in the Palace gardens every 
afternoon before supper, read- 
ing some improving book. 
When the Count came near to 
the tree the Father- dragon 
swooped down like a hawk and 
bore Bricabrac aloft. No one 
saw this capture except the 
wicked Duchess, who was on 
the watch because she thought 


He is 
Caught 


and the Dragons 


57 


something of the sort might 
happen. 

When he felt himself lifted 
into the air, Count Bricabrac 



was quite startled and ex 
claimed : 


“ Goodness ! This is really 
most unexpected ; and so sud- 
den !” 


Carried 

Off 


So Sud- 
den ! 


58 


The Prince 


Her 

Taunt 


He is 
Helpless 


Then the Duchess leaned out 
of her tower window as the 
Count was carried by, and wav- 
ing her lace handkerchief, said 
in a sneering and mocking tone : 

“Oh, never mind, Count. 
Dragons only eat the young 
and tender!” 

Now, wasn’t that mean of 
her? But at last the Count 
knew by her remark who was 
to blame for his misfortune ; 
and he did not forget the 
Duchess’s spitefulness. H e 
was very clever, and he under- 
stood at once what the old 
woman had done. But he could 
not talk dragon language at all 
without the book in the library, 
and he wasn’t reading that one, 
so he had to let himself be car- 
ried off. And, to show you 


and the Dragons 


59 


how cool and collected he was, 
he went on reading his book all 
the time Father-dragon was fly- 
ing through the air, and never 
lost his place, either. 

After Bricabrac’s disappear- 
ance, the Duchess made up her 
mind to go and tell the King 
that the tutor had been carried 
off by a dragon, for she thought 
that if she was the first to give 
the alarm no one would suspect 
that she was to blame. So the 
Duchess Darningneedle put all 
her false curls into the greatest 
disorder, and pretending great 
grief rushed into the Palace 
hall, and cried out as if in the 
deepest distress : 

“Oh, me!— oh, my! That 
charming and sweet Count 
Bricabrac! Oh — oh — oh! 


Kept His 
Place 


Falsity 


6o 


The Prince 


Hypo- 

crite 


What shall we do! Oh — 
oh!” 

Of course everybody came 
clustering about to know what 
terrible thing had happened ; 
but she only caterwauled the 
louder, and pulled at her curls 
until she tore some out — which, 
as they were false, didn’t hurt 
her at all. She made as much 
noise as two pigs under a gate, 
and nobody could get a word 
out of her until the King came 
in. But he wouldn’t stand her 
nonsense, not for a minute. He 
told her to hush, and then shook 
her till her teeth rattled. This 
quieted her, and then the King 
made her tell what had hap- 
pened, and be quick about it, 
too. 

“ Oh,” exclaimed the Duch- 


Severity 


and the Dragons 


61 


ess, “it’s the big dragon that 
was here on Friday, and he 
has carried off his little Royal 
Highness’s tutor! The noble 



Count Bricabrac ! — to think he 
should become food for the 
horrid dragons up there in the 
mountains ! Isn’t it terrible ! ” 


Awful 
# News 


Her Grief 


62 


The Prince 


King # 
Shocked 


One Who 
Did 


The King was shocked, of 
course; so would any man be, 
on hearing that his son’s only 
tutor had been carried away 
by the chief of a whole race of 
dragons. But though naturally 
a little uneasy the King gave 
proper orders at once. He 
directed that a handsome re- 
ward should be offered for the 
Count’s return uninjured, and 
at the same time summoned all 
his wisest councilors to hold a 
grand meeting to devise divers 
and sundry ways and means 
for taking such measures as 
would accomplish something 
toward the Count’s release. 

What else could any ruler 
do? But there was one mem- 
ber of the court who decided 
that there was something else 


and the Dragons 


63 


to be done. The little Prince 
was not at all thoughtless, only 
naughty. He felt that if any 
one was to blame for the fate of 



Count Bricabrac it was himself. 
It was he who had fished for 
the little dragon with a toy ele- 
phant, and now that his tutor 


Not 

Thought- 

less 


But 

Naughty 


6 4 


The Prince and the Dragons 


Sorry was paying the penalty, the 
Prince could not rest. 

Of course he should have 
gone to his father just as George 
Washington did in the cherry- 
tree case, but George had not 
happened at that early date, 
and so how could the Prince 
know what to do ? What he did 
was to pack a few clothes into 
a satchel, help himself to some 
chocolate cake and macaroons 
out of the royal pantry, and set 
off for the home of the dragons. 
No doubt this was very impru- 
dent, but it was brave, and not 
many small boys of his age 
would have done it. Luckily, 
no one saw him climb over the 
Palace gate, and, except for 
slightly tearing his silk hose, all 
went well. 


Slight 

Accident 














4— E. 






e 





ft 

i 





A NEW PLOT 




The Prince and the Dragons 69 


Up the 
Moun- 
tains 


CHAPTER IV 
A NEW PLOT 

T was a long 
walk up the 
mountains, 
butthe Prince 
climbed on 
behind a wag- 
on for part of 
the way, and he reached the 
dragon-land before nightfall. 
Here he met a sentinel, a rather 
stylish young dragon, who asked 
him his business. The Prince 
replied politely, but as neither 
could speak the other’s lan- 
guage, their remarks did not 
fit very well. The conversation 
was something like this : 

“ What do you want here ? ” 



The 

Sentinel 


70 


The Prince 


A Misfit 


asked the dragon in his lan- 
guage. 

“ From the King’s Palace. 
I’m the Prince,” was the reply 
in the Prince’s language. 

“ I don’t understand. Can’t 
you speak dragon language?” 

“To rescue Count Brica- 
brac,” said the Prince, firmly. 

“ What is a little boy like you 
doing out all alone?” was the 
dragon’s next question. 

“ I alone am to blame,” said 
the Prince, “for I caught the 
little dragon. I came to sur- 
render myself.” 

“ I can’t understand a word 
you say,” said the dragon. 

“ Count Bricabrac had noth- 
ing to do with it,” the Prince 
went on. Now this was the 
second time Bricabrac’s name 


A Clue 


and the Dragons 


71 


had been said, and the dragon 
had heard it before. Bricabrac, 
though he had been a prisoner 
but a few hours, was already 



learning the language a little, 
and had told the dragons his 
name. The sentinel therefore 
decided that the boy’s visit had 


Bricabrac 


Name 

Known 


72 


The Prince 


Dragon 

Express 


Noble 
Prince v 


something to do with the cap- 
tive, and led the way up the 
rocky road ; but seeing the 
Prince was tired he kindly 
stooped down and made signs 
for the little fellow to climb 
upon his back. This the brave 
Prince did, and a few moments 
of rapid flight brought them to 
the dragon settlement. 

Here the Prince was de- 
lighted to find his tutor seated 
beside the chief dragon, trying 
to teach him the alphabet out of 
the one book he had carried 
away. The two friends greeted 
each other warmly, and after a 
few moments the Prince ex- 
plained why he had come. 

“I cannot tell a lie, Count 
Bricabrac,” said he ; “I did it 
with my little wooden elephant. 
You must go free! ” 


and the Dragons 


73 


“My dear boy,” exclaimed 
the tutor, “I had rather you 
had caught a hundred young 
dragons than to have told a 



falsehood ! But I cannot allow 
you to take my place.” 

“But I must,” said the Prince. 
“Let me tell the dragons at 
once that you are innocent.” 


Gener- 

osity 


He Insists 


74 


The Prince 


No Hand- 
book 

“You can’t do it,” objected 
the tutor, “ and I can’t either, 
for I haven’t the handbook. 
We don’t know how to speak 
the language. You will have 
to wait until I have taught the 
dragons to speak ours.” 

“ That may take some time,” 
the Prince remarked. 

“It may,” Count Bricabrac 
admitted, “ for so far the old 
dragon has learned only four 
letters of the alphabet.” 

“A, C, D, B,” the dragon 
remarked proudly, as he heard 
the word alphabet. 

“ Very nearly correct,” said 
the tutor. “A, B, C, D, we 
say.” 

“A, B, C, D,” the dragon 
repeated with great cleverness. 

“Exactly,” Count Bricabrac 

Clever 

Pupil 



and the Dragons 


75 


agreed, patting the big dragon 
on the head, for he was proud 
of his pupil. Then he went on 
to the Prince: “You see we 
are very good friends. The 
dragons had an idea of eating 
me at first, but provisions are 
plenty just now, and I got them 
interested in learning. I be- 
lieve we are safe for the present. 
Sit down, and let me finish the 
lesson.” 

So the Prince sat down and 
listened to the Count’s efforts 
to teach the big dragon to read. 
After the lesson was over, 
Count Bricabrac explained by 
signs that the Prince and he 
were good friends, and the 
dragons good-naturedly left 
them together. The Prince 
brought out his chocolate cake, 


Good 

Friends 


Kind 

Jailers 


76 


The Prince 


The 

Supper 


and he and his tutor ate their 
supper, saving the macaroons 
for breakfast, afterwards retir- 
ing to a cleft in the rocks where 
Count Bricabrac was lodged. 

Meanwhile there was a great 
to-do at the Palace. The 
Prince’s absence was discov- 
ered, and everybody thought 
the dragons had carried him 
away. The King and his coun- 
cilors held another meeting 
and decided to offer more re- 
wards. The reward for the 
Prince was enormous, and 
when the Duchess Darning- 
needle had read the King’s 
proclamation, she decided to 
try to win the great prize for 
herself. 

Putting on a thick black veil 
and wrapping herself in a long 


The 

Duchess 


and the Dragons 


77 


cloak she stole out one dark 
night and went to talk the mat- 
ter over with her friend, the 
witch. This queer old woman 
was in her cave frying dough- 
nuts, and she was not well 
pleased to see a visitor, being 
very greedy and wanting all 
the three dozen doughnuts for 
herself. As for the Duchess, 
she was especially fond of 
doughnuts, and the smell of 
them made her mouth water so 
she could hardly speak plainly. 

“Good evening, Mother 
Black,” said the Duchess very 
politely. “You seem to be 
busy cooking something.” 

“Yes, I am,” said the old 
witch. “Only a bit of some- 
thing for my supper. Nothing 
very nice — nothing very nice ! ” 


The 

Witch 


What a 
Story ! 


78 


The Prince 


Like 

Dough- 

nuts 


“ It smells like doughnuts,” 
said the Duchess, with a grin 
she meant for a sweet smile. 
“ You seem to make very nice 
ones.” 

“ Good enough for a tooth- 
less old thing like me,” said the 
witch. 

“ I should like to taste one,” 
said the Duchess eagerly. 

“ But it is witch’s food,” said 
Mother Black, “ and I’m afraid 
you wouldn’t like it. Besides, 
I have only a few.” 

The Duchess knew better, 
for there were at least two 
dozen already cooling on the 
witch’s table. So she rose and 
walked toward the delicious 
brown rings. This made the 
old witch frantic, and waving 
her crutch in the air she warned 


Greedy 
Thing ! 


and the Dragons 


79 


the Duchess away from her 
dainties. 

“ Stand back ! ” she cried. 
“ Don’t touch them. They are 
poisoned.” 

“ Poisoned ? ” said the Duch- 
ess. “ But you said they were 
for your supper.” 

“ I think you are mistaken,” 
said Mother Black, shortly. 
The Duchess, however, was 
not deceived, though she de- 
cided to let the doughnuts 
alone, for she wished to keep 
the witch in good humor. She 
therefore told all about the big 
reward offered by the King for 
the rescue of the Prince and 
his tutor, proposing that she 
and the witch should win it for 
themselves. The old witch 
eagerly agreed, and they began 


Poi- 

soned? 


The 

Reward 


8o 


The Prince 


A Bright 
Idea 


to make plans. None seemed 
good until the Duchess an- 
nounced that she had a bright 
idea. 

“ Let us send the dragons the 
poisoned doughnuts,” she ex- 
claimed, “ and then, when they 
are all dead, the Prince and 
Count Bricabrac can be res- 
cued without danger! ” 

“ But,” the witch objected, 
“ these doughnuts won’t poison 
dragons. They are not that 
kind; and, besides, you don’t 
want to poison the Prince and 
the Count, do you?” 

“ No,” the Duchess admitted 
with a grin, “ at least not the 
Prince. Perhaps you can put 
something into a new batch of 
doughnuts to make them all 
sleep, and while they are sleep- 


Another 

Plan 


and the Dragons 


81 


ing we can carry off their cap- 
tives. How would that do? 
There seems no objection to 
that.” 

“Excellent!” cried the 
witch. “ I will make some of 
the sort of doughnuts dragons 
all love, dose them with the 
juice of an herb that will make 
them sleep— and there you are ! 
Then we can divide the reward 
— can we not, dear Duchess ? ” 

“Certainly we can,” the 
Duchess answered. “And 
now — do you think all the 
doughnuts are poisoned? They 
seem so nicely browned ! ” 

“There are perhaps two or 
three that won’t hurt you, I’m 
sure,” the witch replied, being 
now in better humor; and so 
the two wicked old creatures 


That 

Seems 

Good 


4— F. 


A Few 
Good Ones 


'82 


The Prince and the Dragons 


The Plot sat down to a nice dish of crisp 
doughnuts that were much too 
good for them, and plotted to 
secure the big reward. 





V 




I 



THE HAPPY ENDING 



. QQ Qg 










The Prince and the Dragons 87 


Dosed 

Dough- 

nuts 


CHAPTER V 

THE HAPPY ENDING 


T took several 
days, it may 
be a week or 
more, for 
Mother Black 
to prepare the 
great batch of 
dosed doughnuts, and during 
those days Count Bricabrac 
and the Prince worked hard in 
teaching the dragons their 
language— so hard that by the 
time the doughnuts were all 
done and dosed, the dragons, 
or at least a few of them, could 
talk a little with their captives. 
But these days of schooling 
kept the dragons so busy that 



School 

Days 


88 


The Prince 


Few Pro - 
visions 


they had not much time for 
hunting, and food ran short. 
In all those days they caught 
only two elephants, four tigers, 
and one old camel, and that 
was very little among so many. 

Being hungry, the ruder 
dragons began to look eagerly 
at their two captives, who had 
grown plump because of their 
healthful life in the open air ; 
and, if you had been a dragon, 
they would have looked as ap- 
petizing to you as two nice 
round chocolate-creams. Of 
course, the other educated drag- 
ons, who had been part way 
through the primer, had too 
much respect for their teacher 
to think of him as food ; but 
the others grumbled, saying 
learning was well enough in its 


Some 

Grumble 


and the Dragons 


89 


way when one had plenty to 
eat, but what good were read- 
ing, writing and arithmetic to a 
dragon when he was starving? 



Just as things were looking 
rather dangerous for the two 
captives, there arrived a dozen 
boxes of delicious and delecta- 


Hard 

Question 


A Present 1 




90 


The Prince 


Unknown 

Giver 


ble doughnuts, addressed “To 
the Hon. Dragons of Dragon- 
ville, from a Sincere Friend who 
Prefers to Remain Unknown.” 
When the box was opened the 
dragons began to sing, saying 
it was a dainty gift fit to please a 
king, for the doughnuts were a 
lovely sealskin brown and done 
just as dragons like their dough- 
nuts done. 

The famished dragons begged 
that the dainties might be at 
once distributed ; but just then 
Count Bricabrac rushed amid 
the throng. He had guessed at 
once that there was something 
wrong, and desired to warn his 
friends. Of course, he had to 
speak in primer language, so 
his speech went something like 
this : 


A Warning 


and the Dragons 


91 


“The dragon must not eat 
the doughnut. The doughnut 
will make the dragon sick. It 
is not a friend who sent the box. 



A bad one sent the box. It is 
not a wise dragon who eats the 
bad doughnut. Shut the box, 
and do not eat the doughnut ! ” 


Beware of 


Bad 
Dough- 
nuts ! 



92 


The Prince 


In Vain ! Though his manner was 
earnest, he made little impres- 
sion, and all insisted upon eat- 
ing the dosed doughnuts ex- 
cept the big dragon, who loved 
his teacher. And pretty soon 
it was evident something was 
wrong. One by one all who 
had eaten the fateful doughnuts 
fell fast asleep, the greediest 
first ; and by evening all were 
asleep and snoring like distant 
thunderstorms excepting old 
Father Dragon, Count Brica- 
brac and the little Prince. The 
three held a hasty consultation, 
and, by the Count’s advice, 
they pretended to be asleep, 
too ; and about midnight all 
was still but the snoring chorus. 

Then there stole into dragon- 
land the Duchess Darningnee- 


Enter the 
i Villains ! 


and the Dragons 


93 


die and the old witch, driving 
a donkey-cart in which they 
meant to carry home the cap- 
tives whom they expected to 
find sleeping. But when they 
entered the cave where lay 
Father Dragon and the two cap- 
tives, imagine the surprise and 
disgust of these wicked old 
creatures to see Father Dragon 
rise in wrath, with fiery eyes 
and bristling tail, while Count 
Bricabrac and the Prince also 
sprang up to confront the 
Duchess and the witch. 

“Disgraceful dosers of 
doughnuts !” exclaimed the 
Count, “ now you will receive 
the reward of your crimes ! 
Fall upon your knees and re- 
pent, for by consent of Father 
Dragon— a true and a gentle 


In a Cart 


Punish- 

ment 


94 


The Prince 


The 

Sentence 


friend and a bright scholar — 
we depart at once for the Palace, 
uninjured. You will remain as 
his prisoners ; and though your 
age and toughness may save 
your lives, you will probably 
never be permitted to leave 
this land, but will pass the rest 
of your days in frying harm- 
less, undosed doughnuts for 
the whole dragon nation, who 
have almost resolved to give up 
eating all animal food. It is a 
just punishment, and I hope it 
will be borne with such patience 
as you may have.” 

Then bidding Father Dragon 
farewell, he and the Prince 
departed. 

What was the fate of the two 
wicked plotters can not be told 
with any certainty, for nothing 


Retri- 

bution 


and the Dragons 


95 


more was ever heard of them. 
It may be that in spite of their 
resolution and of the new 
doughnuts, the dragons ate 



them both up; but whatever 
happened to them, they richly 
deserved it. 

As for Count Bricabrac and 


Awful 

Thought 


Serve 'em 
Right 


96 


The Prince 


The Lost 
Return 


A Lesson 
Learned 


his little pupil, they had a pleas- 
ant little walk down the moun- 
tain, through beautiful views 
that were not noticed by the 
tutor because he read his book 
all the way. They were re- 
ceived with joy at the Palace, 
and the large reward was paid 
to them because they had found 
themselves. 

The King gave a splendid 
banquet in honor of their re- 
turn, and the Queen let the 
Prince sit up all through the 
dessert. So the Prince’s fish- 
ing in the moat ended quite 
happily for him. But his visit 
to the dragons had an excellent 
effect, for seeing how the old- 
est dragon studied his primer 
taught the Prince to value 
Count Bricabrac’s services, 


and the Dragons 


97 


and he became a very good High 
scholar indeed, getting marks Marks 
of from 90 to 100 nearly every 
day. 



Even that was not all. For 
several years afterward it hap- 
pened that a most beautiful 
Princess was carried off by a 


4 — G. 


And 

More Yet 


9 8 


The Prince 


A Rich rather bold young dragon, and 
Reward the Princess’s father offered 
half of his kingdom and the 
hand of his daughter in mar- 
riage to any brave young Prince 
who would bring her safely 
back. Count Bricabrac, who 
was still with his royal master, 
advised the young Prince to 
attempt the feat, and offered to 
accompany him in the perilous 
adventure, thinking his knowl- 
edge of dragon talk might be 
useful. 

When they had made their 
way to the dragon’s cave, the 
dragon came out with a terrify- 
ing roar, crying : 

“ Ax 2 — bdxy + 2ax ! ” which 
means, “If you don’t get away 
from here, you’ll be sorry ! ” 
But Count Bricabrac replied 


A Threat 


and the Dragons 


99 


very politely in dragon lan- 
guage, and after a few minutes’ 
conversation it came out that 
this was the very same dragon 



the Prince had fished for so 
long ago ! And then every- 
thing was soon arranged. The 
Princess was politely dismissed 

L. OF C. 


Recog- 

nized 


All 

Arranged 


IOO 


The Prince 


Hurrah ! with an apology, and rode home 
behind the Prince on his spirit- 
ed black charger, to the delight 
of the whole kingdom, who 
were amazed and overcome by 
the beauty and valor of her 
rescuer, as well as by his mod- 
esty. And then? Why, then, 
of course, they were married 
in the great Cathedral, and the 
bells rang, the cannons roared, 
all the schools were closed for 
a week, there were fireworks 
every night, all the theatres 
were free, people could walk 
on the grass in the parks, and 
there were parades with brass 
bands in all the principal streets. 

And among the beautiful 
wedding-presents one of the 
most attractive was a large 
golden vase full of most deli- 


A Present 


and the Dragons 


IOI 


cious doughnuts, and on the 
vase was an inscription show- 
ing that it was from “ The 
Dragons of Dragonville, with 
their best wishes for the happi- 
ness of their Royal Highnesses, 
the Prince and the Princess.” 
The vase was much admired, 
and the doughnuts were highly 
appreciated as long as they 
lasted. 

After which the young Prince 
and his beautiful bride lived 
happily until they came to the 
throne, and then they were 
beloved by all their subjects 
during a reign that lasted— oh, 
ever so long ! 


From the 
Dragons 


A Long 
Reign 


9 






















































































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